HM the King, French President hold talks

Paris, Sept. 8 (BNA): His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa met at the Elysée Palace here today the French President Francois Hollande, as part of his current visit to France. Upon arrival at the Elysée Palace, an official reception ceremony was held in honour of HM the King. President Hollande welcomed HM King Hamad, and praised his visit to France. HM the King and the French President discussed the solid long-standing bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation, and ways to bolster them in various fields. HM King Hamad stressed the importance of boosting the Bahraini-French partnership, and taking advantage of the advanced French expertise in all fields. The outstanding deep-rooted Bahraini-French relations are based on mutual respect and joint interests, HM the King said, valuing highly France's keenness on enhancing its relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which, he asserted, was reflected in President Hollande's participation in the recent GCC Consultative Summit. During the Bahraini-French summit, the Kingdom of Bahrain highlighted its interest in developing the existing bilateral partnership. In this regard, the two sides discussed ways to boost bilateral relations through investment in mega strategic projects, most notably the Bahrain Urban Planning, the modernisation of Gulf Air's Airbus fleet, the Central Ambulance and media cooperation projects. The French companies were invited to avail of the Kingdom's investment opportunities. The latest developments in the Middle East region also took centre stage during the talks between HM the King and President Hollande. The two leaders highlighted the tremendous efforts being exerted by the two countries to combat terrorism and extremism, affirming their keenness on carrying on fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as the best way to maintain regional stability and security. HM the King underlined the kingdom's commitment to efforts to safeguarding peace and stability in the region through its tactical and logistic support for the International Coalition against Daesh, participation in the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to defend legitimacy in brotherly Yemen, as well as contributions to implementing effective measures to combat financing of terrorism and drying up its funding sources. HM the King expressed the hope of the kingdom and the GCC countries that the agreement reached between Iran and the (5+1) Group would contribute to strengthening the pillars of security and stability in the region, and improving relations based on the principles of good neighbourliness, mutual respect and non-interference in domestic affairs. French President Francois Hollande lauded the religious co-existence and diversity prevailing in the kingdom, expressing his country's solidarity with Bahrain over its remarkable sacrifices as a result of its participation in the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen. On the humanitarian situation in Syria, the two sides called on the International Community to assume its role to resolve the Syrian crisis as soon as possible. HM King Hamad expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to President Holland for the warm welcome accorded to him, extending to him an invitation to visit Bahrain.